The Central Airport saga

I look forward to reading the David Hume Institute Central Scotland Airport study. Media reports have highlighted job losses if Glasgow and Edinburgh airports were to close and be replaced by a new airport between the two cities. Newspapers have claimed that total airport employment would fall from 7,000 to 3,000. As usual, the journalists don't seem to have heard of the economist Frederic Bastiat who always asked us to look at "the unseen as well as the seen". The question on employment should be: "How many jobs would Scotland gain by having better air services compared with the net loss of airport jobs?"

Much has been made of the potential creation of a Scottish "hub" airport. But hubs are no longer so attractive; indeed the problems faced by United and American have been linked to their hub and spoke system, one that has not been adopted by the hugely successful Southwest Airlines. What Scotland actually needs are simply more direct services to Europe and North America, not a "hub" airport. The solution is to expand Edinburgh airport:

Peter Burt said: 'What the report does show is that we would get almost as good a result [as a new central Scotland airport] if a second runway was built at Edinburgh, so long as infra structural improvements were put in place.

That will not be popular in Labour's heartland but it's what is needed for Scotland.

Playing with fire

Our politicians are now proposing further restrictions on property rights:

All farmers with secure tenancies in Scotland would have the right to buy the land they farm without the owners’ consent, under plans being put forward by the SNP, it emerged last night.

The SNP is constantly attempting to portray itself as a "business-friendly" party but simultaneously attacks private property.

Jamie McGrigor, a Tory MSP, said: "Fergus Ewing and his cohorts are trying to create some kind of socialist Valhalla where ‘property is theft’.

Doesn't the SNP realise that Scotland's most important industry is financial services? How many people in England and elsewhere are going to be relaxed about keeping their money in a country in which most politicians don't have a clue about the importance of private property?

Browned off

Brian Monteith MSP writes about Gordon Brown in today's Edinburgh Evening News:

No wonder Mr Brown looks so glum. With the economy turning sour and likely to get worse he’s not likely to become Prime Minister, and with a deteriorating reputation he may not last as Chancellor.

There was a fascinating post on the Libertarian Alliance's forum this morning. It was claimed that a meeting took place very recently between Gordon Brown, Eddie George (Governor of the Bank of England), Mervyn King (the Governor designate) and three to four others. Brown was apparently told that he was unacceptable to the City as prime minister and that a Brown premiership would lead to "a major and semi-permanent flight of capital".

It was also claimed that "dark rumours circulate that Blair is stoking up the war fever in order to forestall a full-scale public humiliation by the City". Can Blair really sack Brown without being disowned by his own party? If the Iraq venture goes badly, can Brown make a move for the leadership with the backing of his own party but the enmity of the City?

Privatise the police?

The Lothian and Borders police are thinking of charging companies for providing additional patrols:

The Chief Constable wants councillors to give him the power to strike cash deals with private companies in return for mounting extra patrols.

I always thought that the police force was a "public" service and was meant to provide law enforcement for all of us. That is the justification for its tax-funded status. The Chief Constable is acknowledging that policing may not be a public good after all. If that is so, and I suspect that it may be, then the police force should be privatised. Who knows, there may be a market for a police company and court system that actually catches and punishes burglars.

New air link - to Sweden

I was pleased to read about Ryanair's new service from Prestwick to Stockholm. Yesterday morning the Scotsman reported the likelihood of the announcement but the Herald said that the new route would be to Spain! The Herald has now removed that story from its website.

More on fishing

"Conservationists" are asking us to boycott Scottish cod. UK fishermen have been truly screwed by the EU with little understanding of the significance of this by the so-called environmentalists.

But I note that the Marine Conservation Society said this:

It has now called on the public only to buy cod caught off Iceland, the only fishery in northern Europe which the guide says has sufficient stock levels and is managed in a "sustainable" way, ensuring its survival in future years.

I wonder if they realise that "sustainable" fish management came about in Iceland after the introduction of property rights in the fishing grounds. Secure property rights are the only way to ensure the conservation of scarce resources.

Check your finances

Apparently, nine million of us are afflicted by financial phobia:

One in five Britons suffered from a psychological condition that prevents them sorting out their personal finances.

I suppose that this condition could also apply to those dealing with other people's finances:

The condition is found among all classes and age groups and its onset usually coincides with some form of financial problem.

Why did this immediately make me think of Gordon Brown?

Frankly, they don't give a damn!

George Kerevan (a Scotsman correspondent with libertarian tendencies) writes that the Apathy party heads for a landslide win in the coming Scottish elections:

One shock finding is the substantial number of people consciously not voting, as opposed to circumstances such as illness or non-registration making it hard for them to get to the polls.

So what's to be done?

An all-party committee of MSPs issued a call to allow teenagers as young as 16 to have the vote, in a bid to end voter apathy

But those born after 1981 are currently the least likely to vote, with 61.8% abstaining in the 2001 general election. Adding a cohort of even younger people to the electoral roll would surely increase the proportion of non-voters. Mr Kerevan is right in saying:

The malaise in voter turnout lies in the performance of the parties and politicians themselves, especially in Scotland. Voters face ideological sameness, following the downgrading of Scottish independence by the SNP and the Tory eschewal of tax cuts. Voters also face the prospect of a semi-permanent Labour/Lib Dem Executive coalition, virtually regardless of how they cast their ballots. Either Scotland’s politicians offer the voters greater choice and mean it in practice, or the Apathy Party will win.

It's time for a real choice. The Tories have nothing to gain by positioning themselves as yet another social-democratic high-tax party.

Gun law

It looks as though Tony Martin may be moved abroad for his own protection when he is eventually released from prison:

The decision follows death threats by associates of Fred Barras, the 16-year-old gypsy boy who was shot dead as he broke into Martin's home.

It was of course a coincidence that last night's Taggart included a suspect who admitted to stealing a gun that was used in an attempted murder and who went by the name of Mr. Martin.

Another new political party

The Scottish fishermen are setting up their own party. The SNP is upset:

Richard Lochhead, the Scottish National Party’s fisheries spokesman, claimed the formation of the Fishermen’s Party could completely backfire, leaving the Labour and Liberal Democrat coalition still in power.

Well yes, that may be the outcome but the SNP clings to its "independence in Europe" policy, claiming that an "independent" Scotland of 5 million people could hold its own in a union of 450 million. The fishermen would be better off with a system that recognised private property rights in fishing grounds. Scottish fishermen should have "homesteading" rights over their traditional waters and be free to use or sell those rights.

Rabbie balances the books

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. The Burns legacy is apparently worth £157 million a year to the Scottish economy. Yesterday I reported that Councillor Daphne Sleigh thought that a modern-day Robert Burns might have become a Tory cabinet minister. I suggest that he would have made an excellent Chancellor of the Exchequer:

Burns died with debts of £14 and assets of just £15

An example to us all.

Financially responsible government

I don't really understand why the news about the Scottish Parliament's £88,000 desk is described as a "financial" row:

The controversial Holyrood Parliament project was at the centre of a new financial row last night after it emerged that a single desk had been commissioned at a cost of £88,000.

Surely the politicians will simply march round to the furniture factory and take the desk without payment. After all, yesterday they abolished property rights in Scotland.

A welfare advocate writes

Bob Willis objects to graduates being made to pay for their education. What he really means is that they should be subsidised by non-graduates. Why not say so

Last night

A Scotsman editorial today suggests that Robert Burns was "the Elvis of his day". Well, Burns wrote hundreds of poems and songs and used them to woo his many girlfriends.

In his "Toast to the Lassies", Ian Mowat reminded us of Rabbie's way with women and wondered whether modern Scotsmen could compete:

A Scotsman is washed up on a desert island. Out of the sea walks a young lady dressed in a rubber suit with a zip on the front. She partially pulls down the zip and brings out a fish supper, which our Scotsman devours. Pulling down the zip a bit more, she produces a can of beer, which our man drinks. Slowly pulling down the zip even more, she asks: "Would you like to play around?" The Scotsman replies: "Wonderful. You've brought your golf clubs with you!"

In response, Edinburgh City Councillor Daphne Sleigh first talked about Burns's appeal to people of different political persuasions.

She spoke next about his many affairs and numerous children, legitimate and otherwise. Then she commented:

"And some say that he wasn't a Tory. But if Burns had been around in the 1980s, he would surely have been a Conservative cabinet minister!"

Quite so.

Over-consumption alert

My wife and I are attending a Burns Supper tonight. Blogging should return to normal on Friday.

War news

Superintendent Okaro continues to defend his drug decriminalisation policy. On tonight's episode of The Bill, the Super survives a dressing-down at Scotland Yard and his policy is now supported by previously sceptical Chief Inspector Meadows.

The spending starts

Scotland's election is only three months away and the cash is starting to flow. More and wider roads. Railway lines reopening. Longer trains and more coast-to-coast services. Enhanced bus provision.

Labour is certainly making a pitch for the commuter vote. I must confess that this sort of expenditure might actually benefit the economy and will probably be welcomed by the business community.

Technical problems

Blogging is light at the moment because of several technical problems.

If anyone wishes to send me e-mail, please address it to: david@farrer.demon.co.uk

Just say no to communism

Sir Jack Stewart-Clark is a former Tory MEP and the owner of property that is used for weddings and conferences. Scotland's new Land Reform Bill worries him:

Sir Jack markets his castle as a wedding and conference venue with the slogan "Exclusively Yours", promising the customer the castle and its grounds in complete privacy.

He warned last night he would not be able to guarantee this privacy if the bill was passed because he would not be able to stop anybody else from wandering through the grounds, disrupting or interfering with a wedding or a corporate event.

Being a typical Tory, Sir Jack has already surrendered to the enemy:

"I am very perplexed about this bill. This started as a right of access for ramblers, which is right, but it appears as if it is going to be totally counter-productive to the sort of thing I am trying to do here.

No, Sir Jack, if you grant ramblers the right to enter your land then you have denied the principle of private ownership. As the article goes on to say:

The general principle of access has largely been accepted, but many landowners are concerned that they will not have the ability to prevent the public entering any part of their land, not even the area within reach of their houses.

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.

A challenge for Scottish Tories?

The Sunday Herald writes about the recently formed "New Party", which now wants to rebrand itself because of associations with Oswald Mosley's 1930s party of the same name. Its leader:

argues for martial law to be imposed, with the army running health, schools and transport, and plans to scrap the Scottish parliament.

At the UK level, the party:

wants to slash the size of government and the role of local councils, with taxation 'greatly reduced', particularly for business, and personal tax made more progressive.

With calls for the militarisation of health, schools and transport as well as more "progressive" personal taxation, it should be clear to all that the New Party is no friend of liberty. A half-competent Conservative party should have no problem against such a challenge.

But the Tories do have a problem in Scotland. This letter sums it up well:

Your article ‘Taxi for McLetchie?’ (Agenda, January 12) is right to suggest that the Scottish Conservative Party is seen as an English party. This, coupled with any reference to the Union, is a turn-off for many people. Scottish Tories need to get back to their Jacobite roots and that means becoming a party for Scotland and the people of Scotland. I believe severing links with the UK party would be a good start.

Given political independence, Scottish Tories would be free to set their own radical agenda. Ideas such as commitment to a federal Britain or Scottish independence would be vote-winners.

I have no doubt that most of the Scottish people support the existence of a Scottish parliament, despite the record of the current regime. Calling for the scrapping of the Scottish parliament would win some votes for the New Party, but only a small minority, and the same applies to the Conservatives. The Scottish Tories should break away from their English colleagues and concentrate on policies of liberty: low taxation, deregulation of business and an end to the nanny state.

What, no whisky?

Saddam Hussein had better look out. Without whisky, haggis-eating Scottish soldiers could be considered weapons of mass destruction:

"In respect to Arab culture - and of course the fact that they are on duty - they'll have to do without their whisky.

Big mistake; or deviously cunning strategy.

Scottish cultural note

Boyd Tunnock is the boss of Tunnock's biscuit makers. This capitalist exploiter is celebrating his 70th birthday by spending £70,000 on a party for his 600 workers and, what's more, giving them the next day off work to recover from their modest night out at the Glasgow Hilton. To think that this man has become rich by persuading people to voluntarily hand over their hard-earned cash in exchange for caramel wafers, snowballs and caramel logs. Surely Mr. Tunnock should have become a civil (sic) servant, lived off the taxpayer and retired at 50 on an inflation-linked pension. Or am I missing something?

Why no attack on the Neuearbeitspartei?

Here is a letter from another critic of Tory tax policy:

What is the matter with Annabel Goldie and the Tory Party? Why did she find it necessary to hand a political surrender to her opponents by declaring that they will not cut income taxes?

I don't understand why the Conservatives fail to challenge New Labour's tax-and-spend regime.

This article explains the dire consequences of out-of-control government spending:

Consider, too, the UK where the ratio of government expenditures to the gross operating surplus of non-financial corporates has risen from 57% to 62% in just two years, and where the relative size of the public sector payroll has ballooned 30% from 141 per 100 manufacturing workers to 183 since RobespiBlaire moved into No. 10.

Won't someone speak up for the taxpayers?

The class struggle

Scotsman columnist Kirsty Milne writes about the May election. She is concerned that the turnout may be low. I liked this part:

Surveys show a mixture of feelings among abstainers and reluctant voters. There is the usual scepticism about politicians, combined with a sense that the parties are too similar in what they do and too negative in what they say. A recent survey for the Electoral Commission found bewilderment at the language of politics and class antagonism towards MPs and MSPs who "stay in all their smart houses" and "don’t have to go through what we go through."

"Class antagonism" against politicians! Now, that's talking.

In a review of The State by Franz Oppenheimer we learn:

"There are two fundamentally opposed means whereby man, requiring sustenance, is impelled to obtain the necessary means for satisfying his desires. These are work and robbery, one's own labor and the forcible appropriation of the labor of others."

Oppenheimer nails the state as a parasite. For example: "The State is an organization of the political means. No State, therefore, can come into being until the economic means [private sector] has created a definite number of objects for the satisfaction of needs, which objects may be taken away or appropriated by warlike robbery."

It looks as though some of the sheeple are beginning to understand who the class enemy is.